IMac 20" - Video & Audio Editing, Need Opinions

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fin13

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Hi.

I write and create short to long Comedy bits via Video and Audio.


After doing some research I am highly considering buying the following:

Apple iMac MA589LLA 20" Intel Core 2 Duo 2.16GHz Computer
http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0926INGFS10079774&catid=22154



A Few Things:
- My video recording can last up to an hour plus, so that's how much I'd have to lay down on the Mac.
- Bits can be edited down and go as quick as 15 seconds to 20 minutes.


What do you guys think? Any opinions are valued!



Thanks for reading guys!
Jenny ;)
 
Certainly has more that enough power to do the job and iMovie may be all you'll need for editing video.

My suggestions:

Get as much RAM in it as you can get. Video is extremely RAM-intensive.

Get an external 7200rpm firewire harddrive to dump your audio and video to. Internal drives on laptops are slow and you always want to work from a secondary drive that won't be interrupted when your OS or applications need to do housekeeping.

You'll also want to get a decent set of audio monitors.

----------------------------------------------------

I work on a Gateway PC laptop, but the above suggestions for setting up a video/audio laptop are the same. I go firewire to my audio interface (Motu828mkII) and that is daisy-chained to a Glyph firewire harddrive. I also use a Seagate Firewire/USB2 drive for video editing. I am using a Cannon GL-2 DV firewire camera.
 
Good advice from Tim. Definitely go for the big external 7200rpm hard drive, nothing smaller than 300 gigs, and ideally 500 if you can afford it.

That iMac should have plenty of horsepower for the kind of light video editing you are going to be doing. Fill it up to the max with RAM though, as Tim suggested.
 
Hi!

Get as much RAM as possible
1. How much do you think I should get, presently this IMac has 1GB


Get an external 7200rpm firewire harddrive to dump your audio and video to
2. Are firewire harddrives the same as USB harddrives?


And, TimOBrien was saying that this IMac was a laptop, when actually it's a desktop...isn't it?


You'll also want to get a decent set of audio monitors
3. I know this is basic, but what are these?


Thanks so much!
Jenny ;)
 
2 GB is good. 3 GB gets pricey on these (see Apple Store pricing) do not get 1GB of RAM

The FireWire interface is better than the USB. You could also opt for the 500GB internal drive. If you're doing lots of video work, you may need both.

Monitors = speakers. Get a good set of speakers, the internal speakers aren't great.
 
Hi!

Flux wrote:


The FireWire interface is better than the USB. You could also opt for the 500GB internal drive. If you're doing lots of video work, you may need both.

Are most USB external harddrives also firewire drives, or firewire capable?



P.S. also get 256MB of video RAM

Really? Here's what the Apple says:
ATI Radeon X1600 with 128MB of GDDR3 SDRAM
Option: 256MB SDRAM


Why do I need 256MB? Do you think it's necessary with the type of editing I'll be doing?


Thanks so much!
Jenny :eek:
 
FireWire and USB do the same thing (connect external devices to your computer) but they're not interchangable. FireWire is the better system and since it's already built into the iMac (unlike most PC's) there is no reason not to use it.

You may not need extra video RAM (SDRAM) but unlike your CPU RAM you can't easily add it after you receive your iMac. The regular RAM is accessible via a slot at the base of the iMac. To add video SDRAM you have to crack open the case, and doing so voids your warranty. You'd have to send your computer to an Apple service person if you find that you need more.

Bottom line: more RAM is always better, so get as much as you can afford.

HTH
 
Hey Flux...and everyone else!

Thanks for the input...it's appreciated!


FireWire and USB do the same thing (connect external devices to your computer) but they're not interchangable. FireWire is the better system and since it's already built into the iMac (unlike most PC's) there is no reason not to use it.
Click to expand...
Are Firewire External devices (i.e. Hard Drives) usually more expensive that USB driven devices?


Thanks again!
Jenny :)
 
There is typically no difference in the price of the two hard drive types. In fact, many external drives are capable of using either protocol. Check these out for example: http://www.compusa.com/products/pro...64&Ne=300689&Cn=Computer_Upgrades_Hard_Drives The iMac you're interested in has both USB 2.0 and FireWire 400 connection ports. Since you don't have an existing external hard drive you may as well choose to buy FireWire, which is the better format. The 20" iMac comes with a 250GB internal drive but you can upgrade to a 500GB for $200 - that will give you the equivalent of 100+ DVD's of storage! An external drive is only slightly less. If your budget is tight, get the 250GB now and worry about more drive space later.
 
Hi.

Since you don't have an existing external hard drive you may as well choose to buy FireWire, which is the better format.
Click to expand...
Why is Firewire the better format?


Thanks!
Jenny ;)
 
Well, USB 2.0 or Firewire will be plenty fast enough for what you want to do. I use a USB external drive 7200 rpm to record 26 tracks simultaneously and have had no problems. I went with USB because it was just easier on my laptop. However, USB does use some CPU cycles, which Firewire doesn't do, so from a CPU resource standpoint Firewire is better, however from a speed standpoint, you're really not gonna be able to tell much of a difference between the two.

See this article for some tests:

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/apr04/articles/pcnotes.htm

Jonathan
 
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